Live coverage of the royal wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton at Westminster Abbey throughout the day 7.28am: Adam Gabbatt is on the Mall with the freezing crowds: Thousands of people are lining the Mall, which has been cordoned off on both sides with metal barriers, and almost every single one is bearing a union flag of some sort – OK! branded flags being particularly prevalent. Key points near Horse Guards Parade are already getting congested with revellers, many of whom have been camped out overnight. The area along the Mall is well furnished with portable toilets, some will be pleased to know, but only one small cafe van, which surely will struggle to meet demand. After a cold start to the day it’s warming up quickly, although a little overcast. At the moment crowds are amusing themselves by cheering police motorbikes, which are driving away from Buckingham Palace. Prince William will be driven down here just after 10 – if all goes to plan for the last time as a single man. Adam will be spending the day out and about among the crowds, tweeting and posting video and audio as he meets people along the way. His journey will be mapped out below as he goes . Navigate around the map and timeline to experience the royal wedding with him. _ 7.21am: My colleague Hannah Waldram is here with the weather: With a cloudy start to the day, forecasters predict lunchtime showers for the capital that could put a dampener on the royal wedding kiss – planned for the balcony of Buckingham Palace at 1.25pm. But Tom Morgan, a weather forecaster at the Met Office, said there was no risk of showers before lunchtime. The forecast for London today is a largely cloudy start to the day. Morgan said: “Generally it’s going to be dry and we are going to see a brightening up with some sunny spells. At lunchtime and the early part of the afternoon there’s about a 30% risk of some showers scattered about. If you catch one of those showers it might be quite heavy.” Morgan said the risk of showers would be mainly between 1-3pm for Londoners. The Press Association reports that the royal couple will travel from Westminster Abbey to Buckingham Palace in the open-top 1902 State Landau whatever the weather. The original plan was that they use the covered Glass Coach if it was raining. The afternoon promises a rise in temperatures (up to 19C) and some more sunny spells and dry weather as we head towards the early evening. The weather looks set to be kinder to other parts of the UK – including St Andrews in Fife, where the couple met as undergraduates. The area will host a wedding breakfast party with an expected 1,500 guests is forecast to be bathed in sunshine. 7.16am: Marina Hyde of the Guardian’s Lost in (Royal) Showbiz column has emailed with her first bulletin: Stuff that’s happened on ITV’s troubled breakfast show Daybreak: the programme began at 0600 hours, but we somehow got all the way to 6.16am before sofa guest Eve Pollard gave what may well be today’s first command by a “royal expert” to Kate’s uterus. “We want an Olympic baby,” she declared firmly. I literally can’t believe I’ve got to get through today sober … And re this much quoted “global television audience of 2bn” – is this a bit like when they say the Baftas are going to be seen “by a global television audience of 1bn”, and then afterwards it turns out that one in six people on the planet watching celebs shiver up the Leicester Square red carpet in the rain was a bit optimistic? A few years ago the LA Times touched on this in the context of the far more gigantic Academy Awards, quoting the Oscars executive director Bruce Davis as saying: “There has never been a television event in the history of the world that has had a billion viewers – it’s a handy number to throw around but it’s not true.” 7.02am: Thousands of well-wishers have lined the mile-and-a-half route to Westminster Abbey this morning, Stephen Bates, Sandra Laville and Lee Glendinning report . Yesterday evening, Prince William met the crowds waiting on the Mall, shaking hands and telling delighted members of the public he was focusing on “remembering the lines” for the “big day”. The Press Association news agency has more: Friends Sue Heppell, 59, Susie Record, 67, and Ann Burch, 65, travelled from Newcastle to find a good spot outside Clarence House at midday yesterday. Mrs Record said she had met William last night and he had seemed very relaxed about his impending nuptials. “He asked us whether we were sleeping out,” she said. “He didn’t seem surprised.” The Middleton family spent the evening quietly at the Goring hotel near Buckingham Palace, which was cordoned off with a marquee shielding the entrance so that the bride will be able to slip unobserved into one of Buckingham Palace’s Rolls Royces for her journey to the abbey at precisely 10.51am this morning. Her dress will not be revealed until she arrives at the abbey nine minutes later. The designer Sarah Burton of Alexander McQueen appeared to have entered the hotel in disguise yesterday afternoon, suggesting she may have designed the dress. Other designers named as possible candidates are Jasper Conran and Bruce Oldfield . William will wear the red uniform of the Irish Guards of which he is colonel. The police and intelligence services launched an unprecedented security operation in London. Scotland Yard carried out a series of dawn raids, arresting 20 people in five squats across the capital. 7.00am: The rehearsals are over, the bunting is out , and the tasteful memorabilia is on display. And that’s just here at the Guardian, where, as you can imagine, we are gripped with royal wedding fever. Hopefully it’s just a 24-hour thing. The word’s media has arrived, unwelcome ambassadors have been disinvited , protests have been called on and called off , and at last the big day has arrived. And it wouldn’t be a national occasion without a live blog, so welcome to our coverage. We’ll be all over the service, the procession, the dress, the kiss, the fly-past, the parties – and all the rights and wrongs of royalism and republicanism – right here, all day. I’m not on my own. The Guardian has deployed a cast of several in order to bring you the top wedding news: Esther Addley is with the most ardent royalists camping out on the Mall, Adam Gabbatt has travelled down from Manchester with a coachload of revellers and is now tweeting his way around the capital . Hadley Freeman will be on hand from New York to share the full horror of the US media spectacle while Vicky Frost does the same for the UK, Kate Carter will cast her eye over all the outfits and our fashion guru Jess Cartner-Morley will give her verdict on The Dress. Crime correspondent Sandra Laville is at Scotland Yard keeping an eye on the security situation and Steven Morris has the view from Kate Middleton’s home village. We’re on the procession route too: Sam Jones is on Whitehall, while Peter Walker has the best view of the Buck House balcony from his vantage point at the Victoria memorial. Meanwhile, our man in morning dress is Stephen Bates , who has secured his place in the pews and will be reporting from inside Westminster Abbey. Finally, our Lost in (Royal) Showbiz columnist Marina Hyde will be on hand to give us a healthy dose of Guardian scepticism to keep us all in check. As if we could possibly get over-excited about a mere wedding. If even this gently sceptical tone is just too much then click on the top-right button on the Guardian home page: all our royal coverage melts magically away. There’s plenty of proper news for you to get stuck into. For those of you who remain, pull up a velvet cushion and break out the Babycham: here’s how we expect things to develop. Timetable 8am-9.45am: Congregation begins to arrive at Westminster Abbey. 10.10am: Prince William and Prince Harry leave Clarence House for the Abbey. 10.25am: Royals begin to leave Buckingham Palace for the Abbey. 10.50am: Kate Middleton and her father leave Goring Hotel. 11am: Marriage service begins . 12.15pm: Marriage service over, the carriage procession leaves the Abbey for Buckingham Palace. 1.25pm: William and Kate appear on the balcony of Buckingham Palace with their families. 1.30pm: Fly-past by RAF and Battle of Britain memorial flight. Afternoon to around 3.30pm: Private afternoon reception hosted by the Queen. 7pm onwards: Private evening reception hosted by Prince Charles. The route to and from Westminster Abbey will take in The Mall, Horse Guards Road, Horse Guards Parade, Horse Guards Arch, Whitehall, Parliament Square, and Broad Sanctuary. Here’s a map of the route. The service will be broadcast through speakers along the route, and there are giant screens in Hyde Park and Trafalgar Square. There are more details on the royal wedding website here . The full programme and order of service is available online here (with a nice drawing of the route on pages four and five) and here . The service will be conducted by the Dean of Westminster, John Hall, and the couple will be married by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams. The Bishop of London, Richard Chartres, will give the address. Philippa Middleton, Kate’s sister, will be the maid of honour, while Prince Harry will be his brother’s best man. The bridesmaids and page boys are all young children, and mostly relatives. The music will be performed by two choirs, two fanfare teams and one orchestra: the choir of Westminster Abbey, the choir of Her Majesty’s Chapel Royal, St James’s Palace, the fanfare team from the Central Band of the Royal Air Force, the state trumpeters of the Household Cavalry and the London Chamber Orchestra. More details of the musicians can be found here . Around 1,900 people have been invited, including 1,000 of the couple’s family and friends, as well as members of foreign royal families, politicians, diplomats, foreign leaders “from the Realms”, royal staff, and representatives from the armed forces, William’s charities, the Church of England and other religions. Around 650 people have been invited to the lunch reception hosted by the Queen at Buckingham Palace, and around 300 to the dinner Prince Charles is hosting in the early evening. The first royal wedding of the social networking age has quite properly got not only its own website , but also its own Twitter account , Facebook page , Flickr site and YouTube channel , which will be broadcasting the service live. Watch out if you sign up for that Facebook page; the resulting message “X likes the British monarchy” may come as an unwelcome surprise to some of your friends. There’s a map of the wedding route here , and information for those visiting London today here . Royal wedding Prince William Kate Middleton Monarchy Paul Owen guardian.co.uk
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The royal wedding will be among the first global news events of the social media age that has thrust the monarchy to centre stage Thousands of well wishers have lined the mile-and-a-half route to Westminster Abbey to celebrate the marriage of Prince William, the second in line to the throne, and Catherine Middleton today. Foreign dignitaries have flown in from around the world and London has been inundated with tourists who have converged at the scene to await the arrival of the first of 1,900 guests at the abbey from 8:15am. William and his brother Prince Harry, 26, who is his best man, are expected to arrive at 10.15am. The wedding will be among the first global news events of the social media age: a service full of pomp and ceremony that has thrust the monarchy to centre stage. It will also be the most important – and, courtiers hope, positive – event for the future of the monarchy in nearly 30 years. Middleton, 29, accompanied by Prince Harry, attended a rehearsal on Thursday at Westminster Abbey, the coronation church for the monarchy since William the Conqueror in 1066. In the evening, Prince William, 28, reached into the crowds waiting on the Mall, shaking hands and telling delighted members of the public he was focusing on “remembering the lines” for the “big day”. It is expected that the Queen will bestow new titles – probably a dukedom – on her grandson and his bride. The Middleton family spent the evening quietly at the Goring hotel near Buckingham Palace, which was cordoned off with a marquee shielding the entrance so that the bride will be able to slip unobserved into one of Buckingham Palace’s Rolls Royces for her journey to the abbey at precisely 10.51am this morning. Her dress will not be revealed until she arrives at the abbey nine minutes later. The designer Sarah Burton appeared to have entered the hotel in disguise this afternoon. The couple issued a statement in an official programme, 150,000 copies of which will be sold for charity in central London, saying they were “incredibly moved” by the public’s affection shown them since their engagement. “We are both so delighted that you are able to join us in celebrating what we hope will be one of the happiest days of our lives.” The wedding ceremony itself – the 15th royal marriage to be celebrated at the abbey since 1100 – will place emphasis on Britishness, with music from three living composers, including an anthem specially commissioned by the dean, chapter from John Rutter and music by the Welsh composer Paul Mealor as well as Sir Peter Maxwell Davies. The abbey has been decorated with an “avenue of trees” along the nave made up of eight English field maples and two hornbeams It is likely to be cool and cloudy in London today, with rain later. The police and intelligence services have launched an unprecedented security operation as London prepares to celebrate the royal wedding with an extra 600,000 visitors predicted in the capital today and an estimated worldwide television audience of up to two billion. More than 8,500 journalists and broadcasting staff have arrived to cover the event, more than half of them from foreign news organisations. Across the country, stocks of bunting were said to have sold out. In a show of strength to forestall threats of demonstrations and disruption by anarchists, terrorists or extremist groups, Scotland Yard carried out a series of dawn raids across London. Police with batons and riot gear arrested 20 people during an operation against five squats across the city. Those arrested were taken to the Paddington Green high security police station and may be detained into the weekend. Hundreds of Territorial Support Group officers were involved in what the Metropolitan police said was an ongoing operation to investigate suspected criminality linked to disorder at the student demonstration last December and the TUC march last month. But the action amounted to a controversial pre-emptive strike which the Met said was “intelligence led”. In the Commons, the Labour MP John McDonnell criticised the operation, saying it was “disproportionate and no way to celebrate this glorious day”. For the wedding itself, under huge political pressure from the home secretary and the mayor of London, the Met is mounting one of the biggest security operations in its history, expected to cost £20m, deploying 5,000 officers. Some 900 uniformed officers will line the route from Westminster Abbey to Buckingham Palace, and undercover units and armed teams are being deployed to deal with a range of threats, from terrorism to direct action by activists. Thousands of service personnel will also line the procession route. The Syrian ambassador, Sami Khiyami, had his invitation withdrawn by the foreign secretary, William Hague, after growing pressure from the media over the regime’s violent suppression of demonstrations in Syria. Khiyami told the BBC: “I find it a bit embarrassing … well, I don’t really understand it, but I understand the influence of media on government.” But it emerged that another controversial figure is still attending the wedding – the former head of an agency accused of torture and human rights. Sheikh Khalifa Bin Ali al-Khalifa, a former head of Bahrain’s National Security Agency, which is accused of torture and human rights abuses, is due to attend in his role as ambassador to London. Bahrain’s crown prince withdrew at the weekend because of unrest in his country, but a spokesperson for the Bahraini embassy in London said the ambassador was expected to attend. After the wedding there will be a lunchtime reception for 650 guests at Buckingham Palace, hosted by the Queen, and an obligatory balcony kiss for the newlyweds at 1.25pm – before the monarch and the Duke of Edinburgh head for the country, leaving 300 guests to return for a dinner hosted by Prince Charles in the evening. Thousands of street parties – including one by anti-monarchists in central London – are planned for this afternoon, though undoubtedly the most publicised will be the one for 90 guests in Downing Street, supervised by Lady Warsi, giving a new dimension to the minister without portfolio’s job description. Downing Street is being decked with flags and there will be a large screen to allow guests to watch the wedding coverage, a brass band, an ice-cream stall and children’s entertainment. Royal wedding Kate Middleton Prince William Police Weddings Stephen Bates Sandra Laville Lee Glendinning guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Eugene Robinson Finally Understands: The View From Versailles Is Very Different From Reality
April 28, 2011 No Comment
enlarge He actually seems to think this deficit “debate” is about facts, and not disaster capitalism. But at least he’s noticed that their version is in conflict with reality, which is a good start. Eugene Robinson: What is it about the word “jobs” that our nation’s leaders fail to understand? How has the most painful economic crisis in decades somehow escaped their notice? Why do they ignore the issues that Americans care most desperately about? Listening to the debate in Washington, you’d think the nation was absorbed by the compelling saga of deficit reduction. You’d get the impression that in households across America, parents put their children to bed and then stay up half the night sifting through piles of think-tank reports on the kitchen table, trying to calculate whether there will be enough in the Social Security trust fund to pay benefits beyond 2037. And you’d be wrong. Those parents are looking at a pile of bills on the kitchen table, trying to decide which ones have to be paid now and which can slide. The question isn’t how to manage health care or retirement costs two decades from now. It’s how the family can make it to the end of the month. President Obama gives signs of beginning to perceive this disconnect. His Republican opponents, not so much. Two new polls, both released last week, tell the story. A New York Times/CBS News survey found that four out of 10 respondents believe the economy is getting worse — up from three out of 10 last October. Economists insist that things are improving; obviously, not so that anyone would notice. A worrisome 70 percent of those surveyed said the country is heading in the wrong direction. Bad news for Obama is that the poll found his approval down to 46 percent; good news, as far as the president is concerned, is that his most visible GOP antagonist, House Speaker John Boehner, has an approval rating of just 32 percent. Clearly, Americans are not excessively pleased with their leaders. A Washington Post/ABC News poll found greater pessimism about the economy than at any time in the past two years — possibly because of the sharp hike in gasoline prices, which 71 percent of respondents said had caused financial hardship. Yet if you followed the debate in Washington, you wouldn’t hear much about the cost of keeping the minivan on the road. All that Americans care about, you’d have to assume, is the national debt and its long-term evolution. If you listened carefully, you’d conclude that the solution — cutting federal medical and retirement benefits — was basically settled, and that the only question is whether to do it with a scalpel or a chain saw. Amen! But they can only pull this off if there’s some buy-in from the general public. That’s why we need to fight, fight, fight them every step of the way.
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enlarge Credit: Corbis George Meany: The Nixon Years were fraught with double standards. Click here to view this media In his address to the National Press Club on April 7, 1972, AFofL-CIO President George Meany gave an assessment of how Labor viewed the nation. As always, and seemingly synonymous with a Republican administration, Labor was deemed the enemy of Corporate America and Corporate America seemed impervious to why Labor existed in the first place. As deregulation crept in, almost unnoticed until the Reagan Years when it was too late, the average worker (i.e. Middle Class) was being slowly dismantled and abandoned from the workplace. While, oddly but not surprisingly, corporate profits continued to soar and quality of life continued to plummet. In 1972 George Meany was there to point out these seemingly innocuous findings. George Meany: “One of the most shocking examples of the Administration’s double standards was the flouting of the intent in Congress to exempt low-wage workers from wage controls. On January 19th (1972) the Cost of Living Council headed by Secretary of The Treasury John Connolly and director Donald Rumsfeld decontrolled most retail stores and almost half of the nations rental units. That’s on Prices and Rents. Ten days later, in the face of the clear intent of the Congress, the same Council exempted only wages below one dollar and ninety an hour, less than the amount needed to meet the Government defined poverty line for an urban family of four. The Bureau of Labor Statistics has documented the fact that wages are being held down. On April 7th, today the Bureau reported that the average hourly earnings of production and non-supervisory workers in private employment, about 47 million people, was three dollars and fifty-seven cents in March. There was an increase of one cent between January and February, and an increase of only 3 cents an hour from January to March. While prices are going up, workers wages are being very effectively held down. Under these conditions profits have begun to soar, although the levels of sales are disappointing and unemployment remains high. In the second half of nineteen hundred and seventy-one the Commerce Department reports that after-tax corporate profits were up nineteen percent from the same period of 1970. The major gains in profits are going to the big banks, corporations and conglomerate giants. The Gallagher President’s Report shows that the nations one hundred largest corporations scored a 76% rise in profits in 1971 over 1970. If you exclude the special case of General Motors because of the strike situation in 1970, then the record of the other 99 giants was a 70.8% rise in after-tax profits.” And almost 40 years later, the hand-wringing continues. The Corporations are too big to fail, the banks laugh and the people continue to be mystified. And the definition of insanity is . . . . . .? Speaking of quality of life and poverty . . . There’s no support, only you.
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Conservative commentators and bloggers react with disgust to the DC Comics superhero’s decision After years of declaring he stood for “truth, justice and the American way,” Superman has provoked the ire of rightwingers by threatening to renouce his US citizenship. In the latest issue of Action Comics, which went on sale on Wednesday, the Man of Steel decides to take the step after he intervenes in a protest against the Iranian government. After the Islamic regime brands his non-violent protest as an act of war taken on behalf of the US president, the DC comic hero says he will renounce his citizenship before the United Nations . “I’m tired of having my actions construed as instruments of US policy,” he says. Although Superman never actually renounces his citizenship in the story, conservative commentators reacted with disgust. In a blogpost at The Weekly Standard, senior writer Jonathan Last questioned Superman’s beliefs , now that he seems to have rejected the United States. “Does he believe in British interventionism or Swiss neutrality?” Last wrote. “You see where I’m going with this: If Superman doesn’t believe in America, then he doesn’t believe in anything.” Posters on comic book discussion forums drew parallels between the superhero’s doubts about his citizenship and the conspiracy theories about Barack Obama’s nationality . Several posters branded conservative critics of the storyline “Earthers” – a reference to the Birthers – the nickname for the rightwingers who have questioned Obama’s citizenship. The plot comes as the superhero from the planet Krypton, who was raised by a Kansas farmer and his wife, looks to take on a more global mission for his battle against injustice. “The world’s too small. Too connected,” Superman says. Superman, who was first introduced in 1938, has a long association with the United States, although Joe Shuster, the artist who helped create the character with writer Jerry Siegel, was born in Canada. Superman’s life story of assimilating into US culture has been seen as a metaphor for the immigrant experience, particularly Jewish immigrants. DC Comics co-publishers Jim Lee and Dan DiDio appeared to downplay their character’s declaration in a joint statement. “In a short story in Action Comics 900, Superman announces his intention to put a global focus on his never ending battle, but he remains, as always, committed to his adopted home and his roots as a Kansas farm boy from Smallville,” they said. In a story published in 1974 Superman was granted citizenship of every member country of the United Nations . Comics and graphic novels United States David Batty guardian.co.uk
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Guilty pleas will spare Dugard, now 30, and her daughters from having to testify at a trial A convicted sex offender and his wife have pleaded guilty in California to kidnapping and raping Jaycee Dugard when she was 11 and holding her captive for nearly 20 years. Phillip Garrido, who had two children with Dugard, faces a maximum sentence of 431 years in prison while his wife, Nancy, could be jailed for 36 years. The guilty pleas are part of a deal with prosecutors that will spare Dugard, now 30, and her daughters from having to testify at a trial. “I’m relieved Phillip and Nancy Garrido have finally acknowledged their guilt and confessed to their crimes against me and my family,” she said in a statement. Dugard and her children, now 13 and 16, were kept in a hidden compound of backyard tents and sheds for 18 years, never attending school or receiving medical attention. Garrido, 60, pleaded guilty to 14 kidnapping and sexual assault charges. Nancy Garrido, 55, who originally faced the same charges as her husband, pleaded guilty to one count of kidnapping and one count of rape. She is technically eligible for parole, but county District Attorney Vern Pierson said it was “extraordinarily unlikely” she would ever be released from prison. Pierson said the plea deal was only possible because Dugard was willing to testify about her experiences in captivity. He said he spoke with her on Wednesday, and she remained willing to take the witness stand but was reluctant to put her children through the ordeal. “Frankly, I’m relieved that this means that that will not happen,” Pierson said. “Should her children be called and drug [sic] into all of this was something that I don’t think any mother in her right mind would want to see.” Both defendants waived their right to appeal and are due to be sentenced on 2 June. Dugard was snatched from her family’s South Lake Tahoe street in June 1991 while walking to a school bus stop. Her disappearance prompted a massive search, nationwide publicity and one of the largest police investigations in the region. The case attracted international attention after Dugard surfaced in August 2009. She and her children were discovered in August 2009 when Phillip Garrido took them to a meeting with his parole officer. Dugard has been reunited with her mother and has remained in California with her and her daughters. She requested privacy and has not attended any of the court hearings. She is writing her memoirs, which are expected to be published in September. Dugard’s case revealed problems with California’s sex offender monitoring system, which has since been reformed. She received a $20m (£12m) settlement under which the state acknowledged parole agents responsible for monitoring Garrido had missed numerous clues and chances to find her. United States David Batty guardian.co.uk
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Click here to view this media The NFL was forced to open their doors as Judge Susan Nelson ruled twice that their lock out of the players was out of order. Making billions of dollars in profits was not enough for the greedy owners so they decided to plot and plan to take it away from the players by opting out of their labor deal and then tried to use billions of network money to wait out the players. Doesn’t it remind you of typical tea party corporate and political behavior? All unions are being attacked from all sides. Roger Goodell, who was hired by the owners to be their Commissioner has also been used as a very vocal tool to attack the players instead of remaining an impartial voice. Here’s his WSJ op-ed which spins the facts and attacks the players union. Rather than address the challenge of improving the collective-bargaining agreement for the benefit of the game, the union-financed lawsuit attacks virtually every aspect of the current system including the draft, the salary cap and free-agency rules, which collectively have been responsible for the quality and popularity of the game for nearly two decades. A union victory threatens to overturn the carefully constructed system of competitive balance that makes NFL games and championship races so unpredictable and exciting. The deal that the owners opted out of was working fine for both sides as football is more popular and profitable than ever, but suddenly it’s the union that wants to destroy football. Nate Jackson responded to Goodell on Dead Spin: This PR push by the NFL — a response to DeMaurice Smith’s recent public attempts to shed light on what a typical career is like for an NFL athlete — is confusing to a former player like me: confusing, disingenuous, and ignorant. Confusing because it implies that the average NFL career, the average professional football existence, is comparable to the anomalous careers of Pro Bowlers and first-round draft picks. Disingenuous because it comes at a time when Goodell purports to care profoundly about the health of his players. Ignorant because it dismisses the thousands of athletes who sacrifice their minds and their bodies for a sport that keeps them hanging by a thread for years, shuffling them in and out of training camps and practice squads and never paying them full value for their services. In other labor disputes, the commissioner has usually not been involved. During the lock out, players didn’t hide their feelings about him. Good for the fans to recognize the hackery of Goodell and when he took the stage to start the draft he was booed by the Radio City crowd.
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Company’s revenues and profits rise but are eclipsed by those of main rival as PC market shows signs of decline Microsoft’s quarterly profits and revenues were eclipsed for the first time in 20 years by Apple as a slowdown in the PC business and continuing huge losses in its search division held it back. Though the company reported net income up 30% to $5.2bn (£3.1bn) from $4bn, and revenues up 13% to $16.4bn from $14.5bn, both were smaller than figures released by Apple last week showing $6bn profits on revenues of $24.7bn. The overshadowing of Microsoft’s financial might by Apple will be seen by some as marking a key moment in the industry, as Apple’s iPad tablet computer and iPhone smartphone have both become important sources of revenue even while its desktop and laptop computers – the areas where Microsoft dominates – have become less important. Microsoft overtook Apple in profits in 1991, and revenues in 1995. But since the launch of the iPhone in 2007 and then the iPad in 2010, Apple has grown rapidly, and its market capitalisation overtook Microsoft’s in May 2010 . Microsoft’s dependence on the PC industry, which recorded a surprise year-on-year fall in sales during the first quarter, means that its profits from Windows licences, which generate roughly half its profits, are vulnerable to any slowdown. Analysts believe that the iPad and other tablets using Google’s Android software are eating into Microsoft’s PC business, and have not seen any convincing response from the Redmond-based giant. Sales of its Windows Phone have been unimpressive so far, and are not mentioned in the formal earnings announcement . Trip Chowdhry, managing director of Global Equities Research, said: “This is the best they can do in the industry they have. The quarter was almost in line. There is nothing to get excited about. But 2012 is going to be much weaker versus 2011. It’s all about innovation and the pace of innovation. The question to ask is: is there any product line in Microsoft that they are not playing catch-up on?” Colin Gillis, an analyst at BGC Financial, said: “The concern is PC markets are being disrupted. There’s some validity [in that]. “But it’s also overblown when you factor in that Windows 7 is the fastest-selling OS in history. There was $4.5bn in [Windows] revenue. You’ve got to put it in perspective. Tablets are not going to replace PCs. OK, they are definitely eating into laptops in some markets. But Microsoft will be in that game. You’re going to see Windows 8 come in September, that’s going to help offset the tablet concerns, because it’s going to run tablets.” Channing Smith of Capital Advisors Growth Fund said: “It’s hard to get excited about the Microsoft story when there are more exciting growth opportunities in the marketplace. With that said, Microsoft to me is no longer a growth stock but it is a very attractive value stock.” Search remains a source of financial pain for the company. Its Online Service division, which contains its search engine Bing, recorded a loss of $726m (previously $709m) on revenues of just $648m, up from $566m last year. By contrast Google’s latest quarterly results showed a profit of $2.3bn on revenues of $8.5bn – more than 10 times larger than Bing and its properties. The only other sources of encouragement were higher sales of Office, the company’s other established monopoly, which generated profits of $3.1bn on revenues of $5.2bn, and the Kinect games add-on, the fastest-selling consumer electronics device ever, which contributed to a 60% growth in its Entertainment and Devices division, which includes the Xbox 360 console. RIM, maker of the BlackBerry, slashed its quarterly profit and revenue forecasts from the already lower numbers given at its last quarterly results. It said phone shipments would be closer to 13.5m, and that more would be cheaper models. It cut its earnings forecast by 12%. Microsoft Windows Apple Technology sector Charles Arthur guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Oh, great. The wingnut five continues to rubberstamp anything they can to give corporations the edge they need to pound us completely into the ground. We have no right to anything, other than the right to shut up and take it. This decision is a big deal, further undercutting consumer protections: WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court gave corporations a major win Wednesday, ruling in a 5-4 decision that companies can block their disgruntled customers from joining together in a class-action lawsuit. The ruling arose from a California lawsuit involving cellphones, but it will have a nationwide impact. In the past, consumers who bought a product or a service had been free to join a class-action lawsuit if they were dissatisfied or felt they had been cheated. By combining these small claims, they could bring a major lawsuit against a corporation. But in Wednesday’s decision, the high court said that under the Federal Arbitration Act companies can force these disgruntled customers to arbitrate their complaints individually, not as part of a group. Consumer-rights advocates said this rule would spell the end for small claims involving products or services. In the case before the court, a Southern California couple complained about a $30 charge involving their purchase of cellphone service from AT&T Mobility. The California courts said they were entitled to join with others in bringing a class-action claim against the cellphone company. But the Supreme Court reversed that decision Wednesday in AT&T Mobility vs. Concepcion. Justice Antonin Scalia said companies may require buyers to sign arbitration agreements, and those agreements may preclude class-action claims. Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Justices Anthony Kennedy, Clarence Thomas and Samuel A. Alito Jr. formed the majority. Scalia said companies like arbitration because it is efficient and less costly. “Arbitration is poorly suited to the higher stakes of class litigation,” he said. But the dissenters said a practical ban on class action would be unfair to cheated consumers. Justice Stephen G. Breyer said the California courts had insisted on permitting class-action claims, despite arbitration clauses that forbade them. Otherwise, he said, it would allow a company to “insulate” itself “from liability for its own frauds by deliberately cheating large numbers of consumers out of individually small sums of money.” Breyer added that a ban on class actions would prevent lawyers from representing clients for small claims. “What rational lawyer would have signed on to represent the Concepcions in litigation for the possibility of fees stemming from a $30.22 claim?” he wrote. Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan joined his dissent. The court itself divided along partisan lines. All five Republican appointes formed the majority, and four Democratic appointees dissented.
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Winnie Madikizela-Mandela understood to have given English- and Xhosa-language opera her blessing ahead of Pretoria debut The opening night of Winnie the Opera won a standing ovation, but the biggest cheer of the night was for Mrs Madikizela-Mandela herself, as she took to the stage saying the moment had “surpassed all previous accolades”. The 74-year-old sat among family and friends at the State Theatre in Pretoria to watch last night’s world premiere of the much-anticipated opera which tells the story of her life as the wife of former South African president Nelson Mandela, and her role in the country’s anti-apartheid struggle. As the curtain came down, she was escorted to the stage to beam at the audience, who broke into chants of “amandla” – power. “In all my career of fighting, I’ve never been short of words, but tonight I am,” she said. “This is the first time I have got such accolades from my country, this surpasses anything I have known.” Praising the young, all-South-African cast, Madikizela-Mandela said: “This reminds us as leaders what we fought for and sacrificed so much. I am glad and proud that this production had its world premiere in our nation’s capital.” She said it was the first time she had been inside the theatre, which had been a party bomb target long ago. Pulling the actor who played her, Soweto-born Tsakane Maswanganyi, out of the lineup, she joked that she wished she had been so slim herself. The former social worker has been the subject of a number of retrospectives in the past 18 months, both factual and fictional. She was played by the British actor Sophie Okonedo in the 2010 film Mrs Mandela. A Hollywood film reportedly starring Jennifer Hudson is said to be in the offing. The libretto was sung in English and Xhosa, one of the 11 official South African languages and the Mandelas’ Eastern Cape mother tongue. The story centres on Madikizela-Mandela’s appearance before the post-apartheid truth and reconciliation commission, and her implication in killing and torture carried out in Soweto in the late 1980s. Through flashbacks in court, a window is opened on her struggle as a wife and mother separated from her husband and children, and the political persecution she faced – which included internal exile, imprisonment, torture and 13 months of solitary confinement. “There has certainly been enough drama in her life to justify making her the subject of an opera,” said Brooks Spector, a former US diplomat and now acting head of Johannesburg’s Market Theatre. “You have the gap between heights of her successes and the depths of her tragedy, all taking place in the middle of a major historical moment.” Madikizela-Mandela’s lows include being sentenced to six years in prison for kidnap and accessory to assault over the 1989 murder of 14-year-old Stompie Moeketsi Seipei by her former bodyguard. This was later reduced to a fine and, despite being convicted of fraud in 2003, she has reascended the ranks of the ANC. In the 2009 election she was fifth on the party’s candidate list. In January she hit the headlines after allegedly driving 93mph in a 75mph zone, and her bodyguard reportedly accused the police officer who stopped her of victimisation. Spector added: “Much of South Africa’s history is so contested and works like this are helpful, because it helps people think about what has happened and to think for themselves what it all means. I, for one, am very interested to see how she reacts and also how her family and ANC colleagues react.” Winnie the Opera mixes classical and African music performed by the KwaZulu-Natal philharmonic orchestra. The South African-Canadian producer and librettist Warren Wilensky said: “This is such an important story to tell. Winnie is truly an icon of South Africa’s chequered past and her story is as compelling as it is relevant.” Winnie the Opera runs until 3 May at the State Theatre in Pretoria. An international tour is expected, although no details have been announced. South Africa Nelson Mandela Theatre guardian.co.uk
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